Athletes, particularly professional athletes, who must play their sport at frequent intervals with little recovery time during the sport's active season require footwear that is comfortable, supports the feet properly and, ideally, is lightweight and easy to move in without fear of injury. Athletic footwear has become increasingly specialized so that shoes suitable for one sport are not necessarily the best footwear for another sport. For example, long distance runners have different foot support needs than basketball players who must often change directions quickly. In basketball and other sports where quick lateral movements and turns are required, the shoes must support the foot and ankle in a manner that provides adequate support for these structures, but does not, in the process, increase the likelihood of injury to other body parts, such as the knees. The prevention and avoidance of injury is especially important to professional athletes, who often must play several games in a relatively short period of time.
The prior art has proposed a large number of different kinds of shoe designs that are asserted to provide support to an athlete's feet. U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,273 to Marquis, for example, discloses a shoe intended to minimize ankle strain. This shoe design, however, includes only a single ankle supporting element located over the lateral malleolus and extending under the foot between the sole and the top of the shoe upper. Such an arrangement does not uniformly support the ankle structures against different kinds of injuries and would not enable a player with a weak ankle to continue to play.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,947 to Parracho discloses an athletic shoe with a removable ankle support in the form of a pair of Y-shaped sheet springs formed of a relatively unstretchable and incompressible sheet material and attached by straps. The upper edge of these ankle supports terminates below the ankle, which compromises the degree of support provided to the ankle structures. Moreover, the supports disclosed in this patent are fastened to the exterior of the shoe upper and could be knocked out of position or the connecting straps broken during athletic activity, which would disable the support structure. The weight of this type of ankle support, moreover, adds to the bulk of the shoe and makes quick movements difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,856 to Lin et al. discloses an athletic shoe with a permanent support member that extends a substantial distance above the ankle to provide extra support above the ankle. However, the support element, which is fastened in the front with an extension of the eyelets that close the shoe upper, terminates close to the shin. Consequently, this support design could cause a knee or other injury in the event of the kind of quick pivoting movement which is often required during a basketball game because the support structure is inflexible and does not "give". In addition, the wide ankle strap intended to provide additional support extends only around the front of the ankle and does not provide the support needed to protect the entire ankle. Further, this shoe design results in a bulky, heavy shoe that is difficult to move quickly in.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,613 to Van Dyke discloses a "high top" athletic shoe which appears superficially to provide the kind of ankle and foot support needed for basketball and other sports which require quick, often jerky movements. However, the shoe design described and shown in this patent produces a shoe that is heavier than desirable for quick movements and has more decoration than effective foot supporting structures. The inventor of the present invention, who has played professional basketball, has worn a pair of the shoes described in this patent and is personally aware of their limitations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,767 to Cohen et al. discloses an athletic shoe with an inflatable bladder in the tongue to provide a secure fit to an individual user's foot. The inflatable portions of this shoe design, although they enhance the fit, do not provide the support desired in a shoe intended to provide maximum support and injury prevention when worn to play basketball or similar sports. In addition, the tongue of this shoe design is likely to slide off to one side and not stay in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,405 to Spademan discloses a sport shoe which is intended to eliminate the movement of the foot in the shoe by increasing the tightness of the fit as a function of the forward flex of the leg relative to the foot. The design might be suitable for some sports which do not require the quick jerking movements of the foot and leg characteristic of basketball. However, this design leaves the ankle unprotected and does not provide the kind of support needed to prevent injury.
In addition to providing safe, effective ankle support for sports that require sudden quick, jerking movements and changes of direction, an ideal athletic shoe should be comfortable to wear. The structure of the shoe insoles contribute a great deal to the comfort of the shoe. Ideally, an athletic shoe insole should provide the necessary cushioning and support for the arch without creating friction with the bottom of the foot. Moreover, the foot-contacting surface of an insole for an athletic shoe should stay as dry as possible, even at the height of play, to prevent athlete's foot.
The prior art has proposed a wide variety of shoe insoles to support and ventilate the foot. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,543,765 to Alzmer, 4,215,492 to Sandmeier and 4,896,441 to Galasso are illustrative of such prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,543,765 discloses a molded arch support formed of firm, resilient plastic. This structure may provide support for the arches under many conditions; however, its rigidity provides diminished comfort for the athlete. In the event an athlete's arches fall during competition, the insole describe in this patent is likely to exacerbate the pain.
The insole of U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,492 provides some ventilation inside the shoe, but is not designed to support and cushion an athlete's feet during intense play or competition. The orthopedic inner sole of U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,441 provides an optimum weight distribution which enhances its comfort in a walking shoe. However, this design does not provide the comfort or support desired for an athletic shoe intended to be worn during intense activity.
The prior art, therefore, has failed to provide a comfortable, lightweight athletic shoe for basketball and sports in which frequent sudden jerking movements and rapid changes in the direction of movement are required during the course of play that fits well, provides ankle support that can be varied as needed and does not increase the likelihood of knee and other injuries, and minimizes the likelihood of athlete's foot, turf toe and other foot conditions common to athletes. A need exists for such an athletic shoe for professional athletes and others who spend long periods of time wearing athletic footwear.